KIKKA-SO — Restaurant in Hakone

I was excited to try this highly rated kaiseki restaurant in Hakone, but unfortunately, it turned out to be a major disappointment. For 23,000 yen per person, I expected a refined and memorable dining experience, but the meal fell far short of expectations. The portions were tiny, the flavors were weird and didn’t complement each other well, and overall, the food quality was underwhelming—I’ve had much better meals at small family-run restaurants.

To make matters worse, one of the dishes was missing an ingredient, and we had to ask for it which is definitely not acceptable at 23,000 yen per person. While our server was friendly, the restaurant seemed short-staffed. At times, the next course was brought out before we had finished the current one. I’m not sure if this is typical in Japan, but in most restaurant, this would be seen as inconsiderate.

If you’re looking for an exceptional kaiseki experience in Hakone, I would recommend exploring other options and skipping Kikka So. This is the first meal in Japan that deeply...

2 stars and pushing. Only for the atmosphere and customer service is Excellent. However the food, disgraceful; coming to a 5 star resort, you would think you will get 5 star food especially when you’re paying top dollar. My wife and I spent about $300 Australian Dollars and I still had to go down the road to buy a burger I was starving! The portions are embarrassing, it’s a big let down for the hotel! So embarrassing honestly and if that was Australia you would be fined for serving lobster that small. Very disappointed and it’s sad I had to put this out there but people shouldn’t have to pay top dollar for this. We ordered lobster $70 60 grams of wagyu steak for $85 sushimi was $30 for three pieces and the fruit platter topped it off $25 for 3 pieces of pineapple and one grape and one little...

THE FOOD IS SO BAD. I got the 27,000 yen Kikukaiseki because the front desk lady told me it was going to be everything premium and it was a complete scam. The food was horrible, portions were extremely small. I even got my “meat dish” cold.

Honestly I’m extremely frustrated with the situation because it is not a good price for value. It’s also one of my last nights in Japan so it’s a shame I ate here.

The place itself is cool. This is the only place I didn’t like the food in Japan.

Honestly would not recommend, the food quality is cheat Chinese all you can eat in the USA type of vibe. Even the sashimi was bad. How can you make bad...